Method for updating an electronic service tool

ABSTRACT

A method for servicing a motor vehicle ( 10 ) with an electronic service tool ( 14 ) that is placed in bi-directional data communication with an electrical system in the vehicle. With the vehicle&#39;s motor not running, but with electric power being applied to the vehicle&#39;s electrical system, tool ( 14 ) is updated by transmitting from the vehicle to the tool, set data containing a current set of vehicle-related parameters stored in the vehicle. With the motor running, the vehicle is serviced with the tool using the set data transmitted to update the tool.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the servicing of motor vehicles that haveelectrical systems containing data processors that electronicallyprocess data and use the processing results in certain aspects ofvehicle operation, such engine control.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Motor vehicles require periodic servicing, and some of that servicinginvolves the use of electrical equipment that is connected to avehicle's electrical system at a service facility. Various pieces ofelectrical equipment may be used, and one piece of equipment issometimes referred to as an electronic service tool, or EST for short.

An EST contains a data processing system that processes certain dataaccording to certain algorithms for evaluating the operation of avehicle and/or operation of various components of the vehicle. Suchoperation may be current or historic. For example, certain industrystandards define certain fault codes for various components and/oroperation of vehicle components. An EST can interrogate a vehicle'selectrical system to ascertain if any fault flags have, either atpresent or in the past, been set for the various fault codes.

An EST can therefore serve as a diagnostic aid for identifyingpotentially non-compliant components and/or operation, and hence, aidservicing personnel in properly servicing a motor vehicle.

For properly evaluating any particular vehicle, an EST must itselfcontain proper background data relating to the particular vehicle. Avehicle whose electrical system comprises one or more electrical dataprocessing systems, an example of one such system being an electronicengine control system, stores certain data that is particular to thatvehicle. Each item of data characterizes a specific component in thevehicle or a specific operation performed in the vehicle.

Certain industry standards, such as ATA (American Trucking Association)standards, define certain items of interest for certain vehiclecomponents and certain specific operations. Other items of interestinclude fault codes for identifying particular faults that may beoccurring at present, or may have occurred in the past, and programmableparameters that are specified by a vehicle manufacturer for theparticular vehicle. Some examples of the foregoing items are: enginespeed, engine oil pressure, engine oil temperature out of range high,and cruise control vehicle speed high limit.

Diagnostic equipment such as an EST is typically purchased or leased bya service facility, such as a motor vehicle dealer or repair facility.It may represent a significant capital investment. Accordingly, it oftendesirable for a particular piece of equipment to be capable of servicingas large a universe of vehicles as possible. Because new vehicle modelsare periodically introduced by vehicle manufacturers, an EST that hasalready been in service may be unable to service the new models.

It has heretofore been necessary for service facilities to procure newEST's for servicing new vehicle models, or to update their existingones. In either instance, the vehicle manufacturer is the originalsource for either new update information and/or new equipmentspecifications. One known way of updating a piece of service equipmentsuch as an EST is for a vehicle manufacturer to specify that the pieceof equipment have a replaceable a cartridge that can be removed andreplaced from time to time by an updated cartridge containing new itemsof information for its vehicles, either additional to existing items, orin replacement of certain existing items.

One can therefore appreciate that a vehicle manufacturer must devotesignificant resources to enable service equipment in the field to handleall of its vehicles. Accordingly, procedures that accomplish thatobjective and that are less burdensome on resources, both manufacturers'and servicing facilities', are believed beneficial to improvingorganizational efficiencies and cost-effectiveness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a new method foraccomplishing those objectives. Briefly, the present invention reliesupon a new vehicle itself to furnish certain information for updating anexisting piece of service equipment such as an EST. At time of service,information is exchanged between a vehicle and an EST. If the EST isfound to lack certain information for proper servicing of the particularvehicle, data for the missing information is transmitted from thevehicle to the EST and stored in the EST. The stored data is then usedduring service evaluation of the vehicle by the EST. Examples of suchdata include a) programmable parameters, b) fault codes, and c) industrystandard parameters.

One generic aspect of the present invention relates to a method forupdating an EST that has an electronic data processing (EDP) systemwhich is placed in bi-directional data communication with an EDP systemin an electrical system of a motor vehicle when the vehicle is beingserviced. With the vehicle motor not running, but with electric powerbeing applied to the vehicle's EDP system, a compatibility request istransmitted from the EST's EDP system to the vehicle's EDP system tosolicit a return of data identifying a current set of vehicle-relatedparameters stored in the vehicle's EDP system.

The EST's EDP system processes the returned data and data identifyingeach of one or more sets of vehicle-related parameters stored in theEST's EDP system to distinguish a match of the identity of the set ofvehicle-related parameters stored in the vehicle's EDP system with thatof any of the sets of vehicle-related parameters stored in the EST's EDPsystem from a non-match.

After a non-match has been disclosed, the EST transmits an updaterequest to the vehicle to solicit a return of set data containing thecurrent set of vehicle-related parameters stored in the vehicle's EDPsystem. That data is then stored in the EST's EDP system as another setof vehicle-related parameters.

Those parameters are subsequently used by the EST to evaluate thevehicle.

Another generic aspect of the invention relates to a method forservicing a motor vehicle with an EST that has an electronic dataprocessing (EDP) system placed in bi-directional data communication withan EDP system in an electrical system of the motor vehicle. The methodcomprises: a) with the vehicle's motor not running, but with electricpower being applied to the vehicle's EDP system, updating the EST bytransmitting, from the vehicle's EDP system to the EST's EDP system, setdata containing a current set of vehicle-related parameters stored inthe vehicle's EDP system; and b) with the motor running, servicing thevehicle with the EST using the set data transmitted by step a).

The foregoing, along with further features and advantages of theinvention, will be seen in the following disclosure of a presentlypreferred embodiment of the invention depicting the best modecontemplated at this time for carrying out the invention. Thisspecification includes drawings, now briefly described as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating practice of the inventionwhen a motor vehicle is being serviced by an electronic service tool.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of various steps of an exemplarymethod for practice of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary motor vehicle 10, a truck for example,comprising an electrical system that includes an electronic dataprocessing (EDP) system 12, the particular example here being an engine,or motor, control system that controls an internal combustion enginethat powers the vehicle. System 12 processes data from various sourcesaccording to various stored algorithms to develop various control datafor controlling various aspects of engine operation. The data processedby system 12 may originate at external sources, such as sensors on theengine and vehicle, and/or be generated internally. Some data isexternally programmed into memory of system 12 as programmableparameters, one example of which is “cruise control vehicle speed highlimit”. Other data is programmed into memory of system 12 in accordancewith certain industry standards, an example of which is ATA (AmericanTrucking Association) standards.

System 12 also has a capability for logging certain faults that mayoccur during vehicle operation. OBDII is a common requirement forlogging certain types of faults, particularly in the engine and inemission control devices in the vehicle. The faults are logged in system12 under certain defined fault codes.

When vehicle 10 is serviced, a piece of service equipment, such as anEST 14, is associated with system 12 so that electronic data can beexchanged between them. EST 14 comprises its own EDP system that isplaced in bi-directional data communication with EDP system 12. Suchcommunication may take place by wire, by wireless, or by a combinationof both.

FIG. 2 discloses steps of an exemplary method 16 in accordance withprinciples of the invention. Step 18 is an initial step that is followedby a step 20 that checks to make sure that the engine of vehicle 10 isnot running, but that electrical power to system 12 is on.

A step 22 then transmits a compatibility request from the EDP system ofEST 14 to EDP system 12 in vehicle 10 to solicit a return of data fromsystem 12 to EST 14 identifying one or more current sets ofvehicle-related parameters stored in system 12. A step 24 represents thedata return.

Steps 26A, 26B, and 26C represent the EDP system of EST 14 thenprocessing the returned data for each such set and data identifying eachof one or more corresponding sets of vehicle-related parameters storedin the EDP system of EST 14 to distinguish a match of the identity ofeach set of vehicle-related parameters stored in system 12 with that ofany of the corresponding sets of vehicle-related parameters stored inEST 14 from a non-match.

In the example given here, a first set PP_LIST of vehicle-relatedparameters comprises programmable parameters; a second set FC_LIST,fault codes; and a third set AP_LIST, ATA parameters. If step 26Adiscloses a match, there is no need to update the programmable parameterset PP_LIST already stored in EST 14, in which case step 26B occurs. Ifstep 26B discloses a match, there is no need to update the fault codesets PC_LIST already stored in EST 14, in which case step 26C occurs. Ifstep 26C discloses a match, there is no need to update the ATA parametersets AP_LIST already stored in EST 14, in which case the methods ends byrepresented by step 28.

If step 26A however discloses no match, then EST 14 is updated with anew set of programmable parameters corresponding to the set stored insystem 12 in vehicle 10. A step 30 comprises transmitting an updaterequest from EST 14 to system 12 to solicit a return of set datacontaining the current set of programmable parameters stored in system12. That step is followed by a step 32 comprising system 12 transmittingto EST 14 the set data containing the current set of programmableparameters stored in system 12. Finally EST 14 performs a step 34 ofprocessing and storing the set of programmable parameters that it justreceived from vehicle 10. Once that is complete, step 26B occurs.

If step 26B discloses no match, then EST 14 is updated with a new set offault codes corresponding to the set stored in system 12 in vehicle 10.A step 36 comprises transmitting an update request from EST 14 to system12 to solicit a return of set data containing the current set of faultcodes stored in system 12. That step is followed by a step 38 comprisingsystem 12 transmitting to EST 14 the set data containing the current setof fault codes stored in system 12. Finally EST 14 performs a step 40 ofprocessing and storing the set of fault codes that it just received fromvehicle 10. Once that is complete, step 26C occurs.

If step 26C discloses no match, then EST 14 is updated with a new set ofATA parameters corresponding to the set stored in system 12 in vehicle10. A step 42 comprises transmitting an update request from EST 14 tosystem 12 to solicit a return of set data containing the current set ofATA parameters stored in system 12. That step is followed by a step 44comprising system 12 transmitting to EST 14 the set data containing thecurrent set of ATA parameters stored in system 12. Finally EST 14performs a step 46 of processing and storing the set of ATA parametercodes that it just received from vehicle 10. Once that is complete, themethod ends at step 28.

It should be under stood that updating may comprise either adding acomplete new set of the relevant parameters in EST 14 as an additionalstored set or selectively updating individual items in an existing set.

Assuming that EST 14 has been updated by method 16, the motor is thenstarted and with the motor running, the vehicle is serviced with EST 14using the updated data.

While a presently preferred embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described, it should be appreciated that principles ofthe invention apply to all embodiments falling within the scope of thefollowing claims.

1. A method for updating an electronic service tool (EST) that has anelectronic data processing (EDP) system which is placed inbi-directional data communication with an EDP system in an electricalsystem of a motor vehicle when the vehicle is being serviced, the methodcomprising: with the vehicle motor not running, but with electric powerbeing applied to the vehicle's EDP system, a) transmitting acompatibility request from the EST's EDP system to the vehicle's EDPsystem to solicit a return of data from the vehicle's EDP system to theEST's EDP system identifying a current set of vehicle-related parametersstored in the vehicle's EDP system; b) processing, in the EST's EDPsystem, the data returned from the vehicle's EDP system to the EST's EDPsystem in response to the compatibility request and data identifyingeach of one or more sets of vehicle-related parameters stored in theEST's EDP system to distinguish a match of the identity of the set ofvehicle-related parameters stored in the vehicle's EDP system with thatof any of the sets of vehicle-related parameters stored in the EST's EDPsystem from a non-match; c) after step b) has disclosed a non-match,transmitting an update request from the EST's EDP system to thevehicle's EDP system to solicit a return of set data containing thecurrent set of vehicle-related parameters stored in the vehicle's EDPsystem; and d) then storing, in the EST's EDP system, the set datareturned from the vehicle's EDP system as another set of vehicle-relatedparameters.
 2. A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein: step a)comprises transmitting a compatibility request that solicits a return ofdata identifying a current set of programmable parameters stored in thevehicle's EDP system; step b) comprises processing, in the EST's EDPsystem, the returned data identifying a current set of programmableparameters stored in the vehicle's EDP system and data identifying eachof one or more sets of programmable parameters stored in the EST's EDPsystem to distinguish a match of the identity of the current set ofprogrammable parameters stored in the vehicle's EDP system with theidentity of any of the sets of programmable parameters stored in theEST's EDP system from a non-match; step c) comprises, after step b) hasdisclosed a non-match, transmitting an update request from the EST's EDPsystem to the vehicle's EDP system to solicit a return of datacontaining a current set of programmable parameters stored in thevehicle's EDP system; and step d) comprises then storing, in the EST'sEDP system, the returned data containing a current set of programmableparameters.
 3. A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein: step a)comprises transmitting a compatibility request that solicits a return ofdata identifying a current set of fault codes stored in the vehicle'sEDP system; step b) comprises processing, in the EST's EDP system, thereturned data identifying a current set of fault codes stored in thevehicle's EDP system and data identifying each of one or more sets offault codes stored in the EST's EDP system to distinguish a match of theidentity of the current set of fault codes stored in the vehicle's EDPsystem with the identity of any of the sets of fault codes stored in theEST's EDP system from a non-match; step c) comprises, after step b) hasdisclosed a non-match, transmitting an update request from the EST's EDPsystem to the vehicle's EDP system to solicit a return of datacontaining a current set of fault codes stored in the vehicle's EDPsystem; and step d) comprises then storing, in the EST's EDP system, thereturned data containing a current set of fault codes.
 4. A method asset forth in claim 1 wherein: step a) comprises transmitting acompatibility request that solicits a return of data identifying acurrent set of industry standard parameters stored in the vehicle's EDPsystem; step b) comprises processing, in the EST's EDP system, thereturned data identifying a current set of industry standard parametersstored in the vehicle's EDP system and data identifying each of one ormore sets of industry standard parameters stored in the EST's EDP systemto distinguish a match of the identity of the current set of industrystandard parameters stored in the vehicle's EDP system with the identityof any of the sets of industry standard parameters stored in the EST'sEDP system from a non-match; step c) comprises, after step b) hasdisclosed a non-match, transmitting an update request from the EST's EDPsystem to the vehicle's EDP system to solicit a return of datacontaining a current set of industry standard parameters stored in thevehicle's EDP system; and step d) comprises then storing, in the EST'sEDP system, the returned data containing a current set of industrystandard parameters.
 5. A method as set forth in claim 1 furtherincluding the further steps of: e) running the vehicle's motor; and f)with the motor running, servicing the vehicle with the EST using thedata stored in the EST's EDP system by step d).